Episode Description: "Desperate to improve her chemistry grade, Renee agrees to let Horus help her prepare for the final exam." - AIO

Episode Review: Recently, Adventures in Odyssey has started to feel like a collection of many different shows, continuously rotating between Morrie episodes, Renee Carter episodes, Young-Whit episodes, Parker-family episodes, Perkins-family episodes, Buck/Eugene episodes, Wooton/Penny episodes, Connie/Jillian/Jules episode, Buddy Norman episodes...etc. The reason could be attributed to there being more writers than ever before, and -- for the sake of continuity-- each writer needs to “take charge” of specific storylines. The result is that listeners are far less likely these days to see certain characters appearing in episodes that aren’t directly related to their storyline, creating a show that feels much more fragmented than ever before.

Today, we have a Renee Carter episode. What I liked most about “Out of Her Element '' is that it has Renee Carter emerging from out of her own element, so to speak -- from the secluded workspace where she’s mostly been involved with Whit and his inventions. Here, she’s finally being given a chance to interact with a larger group of established characters she’s had little to no contact with (remarkably, she hasn’t interacted with Connie and Eugene since her introductory episode -- and most of those interactions were within the Imagination Station). While I was initially skeptical about an episode that stars Horus and Renee (how many fans were clamoring for that?), the episode smartly keeps its fan-favourites tightly involved with the main storyline, making this Renee episode feel less like an Odyssey-spinoff, and more like one that matches, both in spirit and tone, a typical Odyssey episode.

While I wish Renee’s motivations for suddenly buttering up Horus were made a little clearer before the tutoring montage (I only really understood why Renee was behaving this way once she had talked to Connie later), the pieces of this episode work surprisingly well. Her story was surprisingly amusing and concluded with an unexpected twist (that Horus was trying to butter her up, too), while Jay’s storyline as a food critic was an idea that’s so amusing that I almost wished it had gotten its own episode. Connie and Eugene’s supporting roles felt fitting in a way that reminded me of “classic Odyssey” -- though, as I later realized, part of the reason it felt “classic” might have something to do with the fact it was the first time those two characters had interacted with one another since “Crash Course”! That’s right! - fifty-seven episodes ago!

There’s a lot of comedic gold here. I liked how Horus didn't understand Renee’s “lead” joke until the following scene. I also liked how Jay cried out “You mean I sat through that whole nerdy explanation for nothing!?” after Renee’s explanation of nail polish. I appreciated the inclusion of scene-stealing Horus’s mom, and I particularly enjoyed the final scene in which Eugene shows he’d been duped by Jay’s alter-ego Percival Montgomery. And while the college scene involving three of our main characters glued to one another would normally be considered a little too cartoonish for my taste, writer Bob Smithouser lays on enough scientific jargon to make it at least somewhat believable. With “Out to Sea” and now “Out of Your Element”, who knew that one of the show’s best new Odyssey writers was one that had been working at Focus on the Family the past twenty-five years?

But, for a brief moment, let’s get nitpicky and talk about the show’s inclusion of Marie Curie. While I found her voice slightly cartoonish and Eugene’s pronunciation of her name in the final scene erroneous (Her last name is pronounced K-your-REE -- not like Curry, the dish) Connie’s excitement about meeting “the first woman to win the nobel prize” seems like a rather strange accomplishment of Curie’s to be excited about, doesn’t it? For one thing, there are far more numerous accomplishments of Curies’ that Connie could have been excited about, and, secondly, Connie’s sentence implies a thicker “glass ceiling” than there actually was. The first Nobel Prize was given in 1901, while Marie Curie was awarded her award in 1903 -- in other words, only a small handful of men had ever actually won these awards themselves! Connie’s excitement might have sounded more justified if she had described Curie as “the first person to ever win the nobel prize twice!” Also, the fact that she says this immediately after exiting the Imagination Station gives the impression that the speech we heard was of Marie Curie being handed this “first” award as a woman -- when, really, this scene was depicting the 2nd award she won in 1911.

These nitpicks aside, however, “Out of Her Element” shows that combining characters that don’t frequently interact with one another can lead to interesting and hilarious results. I like Renee. Most listeners I know like Renee. She remains one of the most likeable and endearing new characters introduced on the show. After ten above-average episodes, she’s certainly earned the chance to step out of club-exclusive episodes and interact with the rest of the citizens in more “important” storylines characteristic of mainstream/album episodes. How can this transition be done in a natural and seamless manner? I have no idea. Thankfully, I’m not the one who’ll be given that impossible task.

Episode Description:"Emily finds a strange note in her locker that launches her on a mystery. The more she investigates, the more she sees that the path of clues is connected to her best friend Matthew Parker!" - AIO

Episode Review: There’s a moment in “Further from the Truth” where Morrie shouts: “these riddles are getting annoying!” It was then that I imagined a choir of listeners respond in unison: “You got that right!” I doubt I’m the only one who found it tedious to hear characters solving riddles that they read only once and, for that matter, much too quickly. By the time I even started to reflect upon the words of a riddle, a character immediately blurted out the answer. That’s when I figured -- “ah, I’m not meant to solve these riddles. I’m simply supposed to sit back, twiddle my thumbs, and wait for them to just tell me the relevant information.” The result is a rather uninvolving episode, where a lot of cartoonish, artificial-sounding characters -- Emily and Suzu, specifically -- jabber quite a bit, while my mind wandered.

Riddles have played a part in many AIO episodes. Many of us can instantly recall the episodes that featured “A Deaf Cabbage” and “How I do is nothing Great”. We remember them not because they were especially clever, but because their episodes took time to highlight them -- providing listeners with full scenes of characters thinking about them, and, as a result, allowing us a brief moment to think about it, too. “Further From the Truth”, which is approximately two minutes shorter than most episodes, should have spent more time on making each clue more involving and memorable; they should have either had its characters reflect upon them for a longer period of time, or included fewer riddles, or tucked these riddles into lengthier, more interesting scenes with a “countdown” (as “Treasure Hunt” or “The Amazing Loser” did), or, perhaps, accompanied their readings with a more interesting score.

Overall, “Further From the Truth” lacks much of the originality of its predecessor, “A Sacrificial Escape”. Haven’t we seen many elements of this episode play out on Adventures in Odyssey before? A mystery that turned out to be a “fake mystery” like in “The Secret of the Writer’s Ruse” and “Train Ride”? Someone stealing the technology to the Imagination Station like in “Novacom” and, to some extent, in “The World of Whitonia?” A cryptic conversation between Morrie and Suzu in the final scene? A twist ending revealing that the main character was in the Imagination Station the whole time, like in “Out To Sea” and “Things not Seen”? Granted, there’s something very cool about an Odyssey villain who goes around making people experience Imagination Station adventures without their knowledge -- but it’s an idea far too grandiose and epic to be used only once as a surprise ending of a single episode. (assuming this is the last time this “power” will be used...)

Wait, does this mean that Morrie -- or whoever is behind this -- had control of the technology of the Imagination Station? How has this happened so easily when, during the Novacom saga, it took the Chairman albums to get hold of it? And, speaking of the Imagination Station, why is it that non-club listeners are being introduced to the portable Imagination Station for the first time as a twist ending to an episode? How were they supposed to have figured this ending out? So far, this new technology has only been mentioned in club episodes such as “The World of Whitonia” and “Out to Sea”, and I can’t even begin to imagine how random this ending seemed to non-club members. The episode doesn’t even give any background information about the invention such as when it was invented, or how this device works, to help non-club listeners catch up! This highlights the messiness of the “exclusive club episode” model, and I sincerely hope the series will take the logical steps to resolve this.

The “denouement” didn’t feel right either. The way in which the scene between Whit and Emily is written, performed, and orchestrated makes the preceding, traumatic events feel rather inconsequential. Wouldn’t you need years of therapy if you discovered you spent a full day inside the imagination station without knowing? Whit’s matter-of-factness (“So you were standing at the sink?”) combined with Emily’s slight annoyance (“weird!) combined with DePasquale’s uncharacteristically understated music, didn’t emotionally fit with the preceding events. This was a complaint I had with “A Sacrificial Escape”, too, whose wrap-up scenes didn’t match up with the severity, and horror, of the situation presented. In that case, an apologetic conversation between Whit and Emily’s father, or background noises of detectives/police combing the area of Whit’s End, may have felt more fitting.

Although, it’s difficult to judge an entire saga that hasn’t yet concluded, I can say that, so far, the Morrie Saga makes me feel like I’m watching “Lost” -- a show that kept its viewers’ attention by creating endless questions, but that failed to release answers regularly enough to 1) keep us interested and 2) to give us enough confidence that it knew what the answers are. This episode has, yet again, kept its characters (Whit, Matthew and Emily) running in the same hamster wheel they’ve been in for the past four years. The ending to “Further of the Truth”, in cutting off Emily’s final sentence revealing who she believes to be the culprit, still doesn’t give us that moment’s satisfaction that they’ve made any progress, leaving me, admittedly, feeling tired and impatient.

Episode Description:"Ron Perkins has been stationed overseas with the Marines for a long time, and Bridget and Wyatt are missing their dad. Whit creates a special Imagination Station adventure to help them with their feelings ... but it has a surprising twist." (AIO)Episode Review:Despite having introduced the world to the most memorable characters, AIO hasn’t always been particularly good at giving these characters a satisfying closure. Very few characters aside from, say, the Barclays or Aubrey Shepherd, have had their own “goodbye” episodes, and it is oftentimes only once many albums have gone by without a character making an appearance, that listeners can start to assume they’ve left the show for good. That said, having characters disappear without explanation is sometimes a deliberate, even sensical choice; given the large number of characters introduced each year, it would feel narratively tedious to write each of them out of the show -- and, for that matter, to give them each original reasons for leaving. Other times, it’s logistically too difficult; sometimes the actors retire and move away without notice, and other times, as in the case of Tom Riley, the actor passes away.

What does one do in such a sad case? Do you recast the character? Perhaps -- but what if the audience doesn’t accept the change? Do you have the character “move away”? Perhaps -- but how does one write a satisfying “moving away” episode without any recorded lines from the actor? Do you have the character die on the actual show? Again, perhaps -- but might it feel too emotionally difficult for the AIO team to write -- given the loss of the actor, their friend -- or might it feel inadvertently opportunistic (i.e, is it ethical to use a real-life death as an excuse to create new/dramatic storylines on the show?) While fans, back in the day, were desperately wishing for some sort of closure for Tom Riley, none of these options, apparently, were preferable for the AIO team. They settled, then, for another solution -- the most common solution on Adventures in Odyssey. They turned the camera somewhere else. They had the character, and his farm, fade away...

Ongoing conversations must have concluded that allowing the character to “fade away” was not enough for fans. In 2017’s “Legacy”, they decided that the best way to provide his character with a semblance of closure was to say that Tom passed away -- but that it happened a long time ago. I remember finding this approach narratively unsatisfying (Legacy’s musical 2nd-half didn’t help). That said, at the time, I understood why “distancing” our main characters from the time in which Tom Riley’s death occurred might have seemed like the most logical solution; after all, having a full episode in which Andre Stojka’s relatively new Whit (who was brought on only a couple years after Edmiston’s passing) mourns over the passing of a character he had, technically, never interacted with, could have felt disingenuous, and might not have resulted in the heartwarming episode fans wanted.

The latest Adventures in Odyssey episode, “Always Home',' provides further closure for Tom Riley, and it is, in my opinion, the show’s best attempt. Amazingly, as we hear Whit saddened by the loss of his friend, it never once crossed my mind that Andre Stojka’s Whit never interacted with Tom. It’s a testament to both the writing and Andre Stojka’s performance, as those final scenes where Whit and Connie talk about Tom’s birthday made me an absolute wreck. As someone who grew up listening to Odyssey everyday, having our characters acknowledge the loss of a central character, to finally cry and mourn over them, was surprisingly therapeutic. Although these scenes amount to a much smaller tribute than I might have liked, in many ways, they were also a fitting stand-in for the Tom Riley funeral we never got to have.

Honestly, these scenes felt more reminiscent of so-called “classic Odyssey” than anything else that has transpired on the show since the 2010 reboot. One of the reasons was that it gave Whit both “flaws'' (depression/sadness) as well as mystery (why is Whit late for work?) that was more prevalent in the olden days, and which the show is only beginning to revisit with episodes like “Charlotte”. The episode also featured a conversation where Whit is expressing his frustrations/sadness to Connie -- something he did much more of in older episodes such as, say, “What Happened to the Silver Streak”. Finally, this storyline felt classic because of the musical choices made by the newest Odyssey composer, Aaron Fullan, who smartly updates and inserts one of the best AIO themes into the background of this scene (incidentally, also used in the Connie/Whit scene of “Silver Streak”). It was a truly wonderful and surprising choice, and it made me wish that Odyssey would recycle old themes more often.

Obviously, the Tom Riley storyline is the much more memorable of the two in “Always Home”, which -- questionably, for some -- focuses the majority of its running time on the Perkins’ family. Thankfully, it isn't a forgettable storyline either. I enjoyed how Wyatt and Bridgett were tricked into meeting their real father in the faux-Imagination Station, as well as the amusing fact that Wyatt tried to condense every holiday into the same week. I also liked how the episode downplays Bridgett’s ruthlessly over-the-top character from “Playing Favorites”, and turns her into a much more sympathetic character here. While I wonder if it all could’ve been streamlined a little, getting rid of the dying turtle storyline that only muddies the theme (they could have had Bridgett’s anger/sadness towards her father remain the main focus throughout, I think), it's overall pretty enjoyable, nevertheless.

“Always Home” leaves me wondering a few things. Will Wyatt’s father ever return permanently from war, or will Perkins episodes focus more on a three-member family? And what war is he fighting in? -- is he fighting in the same fictional war in Rakistan that Mark Horton was part of? And is this the last we’ll hear about the passing of Tom Riley, or should this be the chapter that his story ends on? Overall, I was more than happy with “Always Home”. It has a nice balance of humor and heart, and it uses our characters in smart and sympathetic ways, leaving us with a beautiful ending that shouldn’t leave a single eye dry.

PS: I refuse to believe Whit didn’t know what time it was because he left his phone at home. Surely John Avery Whittaker wears a watch.

Episode Description:"Station manager Sky Feldstein tells TV news anchor Ted Humpfries that he needs to be more relevant. Ted turns to Zoe Grant for youthful advice. To update his image, he reports from the local trampoline park and inside a video game." - AIO

Episode Review:It’s clear that Adventures in Odyssey has yet to form a core-group of supporting grownups who are as memorable and iconic as Tom Riley, Bernard Walton, Jack Allen, Bart Rathbone, Edwin Blackgaard, and many other “retired” characters from the 80’s and 90’s. Will the producers ever be able to repopulate the town of Odyssey with characters as popular as they were? Honestly, probably not. They were, after all, such strong, well-written and well-acted characters -- a one-in-a-million cast! That said, contributing to their success was a palpable feeling that the writers loved writing for them. This made me wonder: who among today’s newest grownups so unanimously captures the writer’s attention and passion?

Many characters introduced in recent years (Wilhelm Holstein, Simon Jones, and Red Hollard, for instance) were created, I expect, with the hope of making far more numerous appearances. However, based on their number of credited appearances so far, it’s safe to assume they haven’t exactly sparked many writers’ imagination. The same can’t be said about Ted Humpfries, the star of today’s episode, who made his first appearance in a small role in “The Green Ring Conspiracy”, and who has only increased in visibility ever since. “Breaking News” shows us that there’s real excitement for this character - was it his scene-stealing performance in “The Shame about Fame'' that made writers give him a second look? Regardless of what ultimately inspired AIO’s head honchos to greenlight “Breaking News”, it’s clear that it was at least partially done so because they were impressed with Keith Ferguson’s performance.

But are listeners equally impressed with him? Can the character Ted Humphries actually carry an episode? Or should he continue to appear as the show’s infrequently-used small-time reporter? Personally, I thought he was really funny. While Breaking News is certainly well-written, there are countless lines of dialogue that are all the more memorable specifically because of Ferguson’s delivery:

Zoe Grant: First, we should edit your show to make it fast paced -- cut out some of those long pauses in your interviews: Ted Humpries: [Long Pause] Okay...

Zoe Grant: You’re doing the hypermax nutra-energy story? Ted Humphries: Oh, I’ve gone through the report they wrote and there is some credible news in it. They claimed the protein bars are, quote, “edible”, end quote, and come, quote, “individually wrapped”, end quote. I have verified those facts...personally.

While the actor has certainly proven his comedic abilities, I wonder if the character will need some fine-tuning in the days ahead. While “Breaking News” depicts a newsman with integrity who strives for truth no matter how boring that truth may be, his character in “The Shame about Fame” strikes a slightly different tone, as he’s depicted there as chasing after a rather sensational news story while asking his subjects rather “gotcha” questions (remember how embarrassed Olivia felt during that interview?). While contradictory personalities are common (Dale Jacobs also uncharacteristically and momentarily abandons any sense of journalistic decorum in “The Jesus Cloth”), I prefer this more upstanding-like depiction of Humphries here.

Journalistic integrity is an important issue, and “Breaking News” tackles it surprisingly...well...extensively. In some instances, I wasn’t sure if its writer was more interested in teaching listeners about the importance of “truth” or simply vocalizing their pent-up frustrations about modern-day news organizations. Either way, “Breaking News” is indeed a not-so-subtle indictment of a generation of journalists and media groups who prefer chasing after “views” rather than “truths”. Zoe’s line about “well, as a student journalist, I subscribe to several news sources to compare different sides…” appears to subtly mock the current generation of readers/viewers who say they want truth, before then, hypocritically, settling for sensational and easy-digestible news sources. Sadly, it's an undeniable truth that, yes, even our own news-outlet of choice is just as motivated by “clicks” and “profits” as the next one. If there is a 100% fact-based news organization, I have yet to find it.

Throughout “Breaking News”, I was reminded of the tone and feel of “Pipe Dreams”, that, also quite randomly, decided to center an entire -- surprisingly-educational -- episode on a rather unfamiliar character who helps the local government with an impending water-related crisis. If it was used as an inspiration for this episode, I sorta wish they had included some sort of direct reference to it -- such as mentioning cranky, government worker Mrs. Bavaqua, or something. There are a few more overt references, however, to other previous episodes, including a mention of both Gloobers and Destructo (wait, does “Breaking News” reveal that these are part of the same universe?), as well as a nod to the previous station manager, Guy Feldstein (come back, Corey Burton!)

Due to its star-performance and small script, I have a feeling “Breaking News” will only increase in popularity as the years continue. It’s great! And as we enter the new decade, I hope Odyssey will follow some of the lessons that can be gleaned from this episode -- essentially, that it can sometimes be better for 1) characters to grow in popularity organically, and 2) for producers to seek out characters from the cast they already have, (Detective Polehaus is a good example of this) rather than immediately creating brand new characters from unproven talent. And while there are so many factors that end up contributing to the popularity of a character, knowing that the writers are also excited about them really, really helps.

Episode Description:"Connie Kendall makes it her mission to get Jillian Marshall the perfect job in town. The journey takes them from Triple J Antiques, to Whit's End, to the hospital, and even to Odyssey Channel 10. Meanwhile, Trey Calhoun struggles to overcome his failures in school and step out of his older brother's shadow." - AIO

Episode Review:The character of Jillian Marshall feels like a manufactured product -- a corporate creation, so to speak -- who, so far, exists only to get Jason hitched. There appears to be no other purpose for her to be on the show other than this reason. Does Connie really need an eccentric female friend? Not since she met Penny. Does Connie need someone to mentor and look after? Not since she met Jules. Is the show significantly lacking in new goofy characters to develop and explore? Again, nope. So what other purpose does Jillian serve? What hole on this show does she fill? The answer, for now, is none whatsoever -- no other purpose, that is, except to be moved a little closer and closer, in physical space, to Jason.

Look, I personally don’t think there’s anything terribly wrong with Jillian herself. She was fun in “Nightmares by Constance” and I actually think she’s a little more interesting to listen to than both Penny and Jules. The problem is that she hasn’t been able to be judged by her own merits. Ever since the writers “hinted” in an Official Podcast that this character was going to serve as some sort of love-interest for Jason, every appearance of hers has been judged as an audition tape for Jason. “She’s too silly for Jason”, some would say after an episode of hers aired. “Bring Tasha back!” others would say. Honestly, telling audiences about the romance before she even appeared on the show put Jillian Marshall -- and its actress -- in an unfair position.

As a result, we can see, all too clearly, the gears moving -- the inside of this cupid machine. It wasn’t surprising that Jillian wanted to set-up shop in front of Jason’s store in “Not What I Expected”. Or that, in “Nightmares by Constance'', she and Jason were forced into a situation where they had to act like husband and wife to solve a mystery (still funny, though). Or that, in “Good Job!”, after going to other interviews, she would end up working closely alongside Jason by the end of the episode. Every episode feels like a contrived way to have them end up together. After “Good Job” begun, we knew instantly that the whole episode existed to have Jillian move from point A to point B: from far from Jason, to close to Jason.

With romantic storylines, you sorta need to keep audiences in the dark. You need the audience to feel the natural chemistry between two characters before we know what the show has planned for those characters. For years, a vocal group of fans have wanted Jason and Connie to get married precisely because the show didn’t set out to create a romance between them. A similar phenomenon occurred with Jason and Amy in “Best Laid Plans” due to the natural chemistry between its stars. And the same thing also happened with Monica Stone, a character who was introduced first as a villain instead of a love-interest. The most exciting romances are when the audiences think it’s their idea -- when they see two characters and realize, without the show’s explicit prompting, that they would make a great pair.

Ironically, while “Good Job” displays the unsubtle ways they’ve been setting up Jason and Jillian as a romantic pair, it also shows off AIO’s subtle methods in introducing the Calhoons as the next Odyssey family. They introduced the father, Joseph, all the way back in “In a Sun Scorched Land”, then introduced Cooper in “Page from the Playbook”, then introduced the final two members, Trey and Kayla, in this episode. I like it when the show introduces a family as a slow roll-out -- instead of giving them a full-blown introductory episode. It keeps the pressure off of them being unfairly scrutinized and evaluated as “the next Barclays”. But I wish Jillian’s introduction was a little more like the Calhouns’; I wish we didn’t know their plans for this character until she had made several, smaller appearances on the show.

But, hey, perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps the writers have ulterior motives, and there won’t be a romance between Jillian and Jason. Perhaps it’s all one big misdirection. Perhaps she’s The Chairman’s daughter, and she’s playing dumb to secretly try to get closer to Jason just to, then, get closer to Whit’s Imagination Station. There’s still plenty of time to surprise us. But if there needs to be a romance between these two, I hope they can write it in such a way where fans start wanting it to happen. Because, right now, it’s all just feeling like an arranged marriage.

Episode Description:"It's all hands on deck when a series of clues appears to connect Whit's End with a survivor of the Titanic." - AIO

Episode Review: I find it somewhat appropriate that the 2020 season of Adventures in Odyssey begins with an episode that centers on the theme of class struggle. Look around and you’ll see that it’s a topic that’s on many people’s minds these days; from the majority of this past year’s Best Picture nominees (Ford V. Ferrari, Joker, etc) which depicted characters struggling against powerful systems, to a democratic frontrunner whose been gaining significant popularity by promising to draw the lines between rich and poor a little bit -- if not a lot -- closer.

While it’s important to make sure that all people in society are treated equally, it’s perhaps equally important to be reminded that, no matter what situation we find ourselves in (including the class we’re born into) we should all strive to be content. Understandably, “contentment” may seem to be an odd thematic choice for an episode about the Titanic -- whose victims experienced a horrific tragedy, and, whose survivors -- more than anyone --shouldn’t have been expected to “just be content”.

But by using “contentment” as one of this story’s major themes, the episode actually made me view this familiar story in a whole new light. You see, as the character of Nina toured the ship, marveling at the swimming pools, the first class dining rooms, and fancy dresses, I couldn’t help but think that in their final moments, ones class didn’t really matter; those at the top of the ship and the bottom (including those in 1st class rooms or 3rd class rooms) all met equal fates. In that sense, listening to this story reminded me how our wealth is very much temporary.

But, what about those in today’s society who face difficulty and suffering? Should we just tell them to keep quiet and be content -- that we’re all just going to end up dead anyway so none of it matters? Of course not! Even though we Christians know to store our treasures in heaven, the episode tells us that this truth does not absolve our responsibility in helping people escape their own difficult circumstances. As we saw in the episode, Nina made the right choice by serving others in her act of founding the Fillmore Recreation Center.

I don’t think I would have been able to draw any of these conclusions if I wasn’t so immersed in the episode. One of the reasons I found “Unsinkable” more captivating than other episodes of its kind is due to how the writer chose to frame the story. This isn’t your typical historical episode which devotes the full running time to the telling of the historical story. By delaying the flashback until ten-or-so minutes into the first episode, the episode was able to properly build our curiosity about what was to come. And by tying the story of the Titanic to the formation of Whit’s End, I became all the more invested in hearing about the actual historical events.

It helped that the sound design and music, here, are top-notch -- with layers and details that evokes the grandeur of the ship that, in its own way, matched the impressiveness of James Cameron’s special effects in the widely-known blockbuster. The scene of the women and children on the lifeboats, watching the ship sink, is certainly a highlight -- this moment is rightfully eerie and terrible and brought tears to my eyes both times I’ve listened to it. You can tell that the AIO team put in great effort in making sure everything sounded both immersive and authentic.

There were other nice touches, too. I liked the fact that Hal Smith’s voice can be briefly heard in the old video interview with Ted Humphries. I also liked that there were several nods made to “The Treasure of LeMonde”; for instance, just as Robin once found a secret note in the pipe organ during cleaning out of another room; Emily Jones found a clue in a piano during the cleaning out of an old room at Whit’s End. The episode also features characters repeating lots of history that was established from that episode, including the fact that the Fillmore Recreation was a church that once burned down leaving only its church tower. And extremely observant fans might notice that Whit, here, uses a common exclamation that was also used by Hal Smith’s Whit in “Treasure of LeMonde”: “Well, I’ll be!”.

Of course, I must admit, despite those nice touches, the episode included a few moments I didn’t totally buy. For one thing, I found it a little unbelievable that Whit didn’t really recognize or remember Nina Hankins/Lee’s name -- the person whose building he had taken over to build Whit’s End. And I’m not really quite sure, looking back, why Nina was ever so cryptic in her video interview with young Ted Humphries, especially since her life story didn’t seem like it necessarily needed to be one that should have been discovered by clues and riddles. And I didn’t totally buy how a girl with Emily Jones’s intellect wouldn’t know what a cassette tape player looks like. (Sheesh -- no wonder she wasn’t invited to be part of the square one club in “Square One”)

At the end of the day, there’s so much great detail, here, found in both its writing, sound design, and music, that puts this episode head and shoulders above many other recent historical-based episodes of its kind. Odyssey proves once again that it can make well-known stories feel alive and new when putting its own unique spin on them. And as we encounter struggles each day, may we not forget “Unsinkable”’s important lessons.

Episode Description:"After Buddy's fears get the best of him, a young daredevil gives him a pep talk from the Bible ... sort of." - AIO​Episode Review: If you’ve been a devoted reader of my reviews over the past several years, you’ll know that I’m not a fan of episodes that revolve around a kid who hears a Bible verse and then spends the rest of the episode misinterpreting that verse. While this is certainly an easy way for us listeners to ultimately learn the meaning of a particular verse, it normally requires us to listen to characters acting dumber than they normally are. The examples of this happening previously on AIO is endless: The Washington kids once assumed that Whit couldn’t go to heaven after they read Matthew 19:24. Donna assumed she could get anything she wanted if she just prayed for it after she read Mark 11:24. From Erica Clark mistaking joy for happiness after hearing James 1: 2-3, to Tamika misunderstanding how to tell the truth after hearing “Proverbs 26:28”, and even, more recently, Declan misinterpreting Matthew 7:12 (the golden rule), the formula has gotten a little tiresome, hasn’t it?

“Lifted Out of Context” continues this tradition. However, ironically, this is one episode that chooses not to expand on the main verse by the time the episode ends. That’s a pretty gutsy decision. I, myself, was intrigued how the episode would explain the meaning -- and context -- of “I can do all things through Him who gives him strength”, and I felt a little bit cheated not getting a clear answer. One or two additional lines of dialogue about this verse probably would have sufficed. It feels as though the episode simply ran out of time. Given howAdventures in Odysseyhas made it clear that they don’t want to spoon feed everything to the audience, I sort of understand why they made this choice, but, in the end, not having Whit actually provide further context to this verse ended up feeling a bit cheap.

Aside from the choice not to be clarify Phillipians 4:13, my biggest qualm with the episode is that it just felt too unfamiliar. Every so often there’s an episode that that comes along that makes one say to oneself “this doesn’t feel like Odyssey”. It involved a mixture of very uncommon locations -- from Buddy’s daydreams, the ski-resort scenes, the skate park scenes -- all involving too many new-ish characters (more on that a little later) and humor that felt a little overly contemporary and meta -- from mentions of real-life stuff like “The Revengers” and “Tony Falcon” (i.e. “The Avengers” and “Tony Hawk”) and characters’ commentary on storytelling tropes (“the jet is conveniently out of fuel”, “mcguffin” “and “that seems like a weak plot device”), none of it seemed to allign with the regular humor of the show.

“Lifted Out of Context” prompted me to ask: why are we hearing from certain characters so infrequently? Buddy Norman’s last appearance on Adventures in Odyssey was over a year ago and Beezee and Horus’s last appearance was nearly two years ago (not counting the latter’s short cameo in a recent B-TV episode). Funnily enough, it had been such a long time since we had heard from these characters that a fellow listener asked who some of them even were and why an entire episode was so-suddenly being devoted to them. I started to wonder: is the reason why we’re hearing from some characters so infrequently because there are simply too many characters? (which then led me to ask...) Are today’s AIO writers more interested in writing about their own favourite characters than writing about the same small, agreed-upon group of characters?

Looking back at the past few years of the show, it’s clear that the writers have favourite characters to write about. Phil Lollar seems to like episodes featuring Renee Carter, having written the majority of her episodes thus far. Marshal Younger, at the moment, seems preoccupied with writing stories about the Perkins family, while Sam Suksiri, as seen in today’s show, has given the most attention to characters such as Buddy, Beezee and Horus. Having writers focus on certain characters -- and, in turn, their arcs -- isn’t a bad thing (it gives each character some continuity/consistency, after all). But given that the show has just recently introduced us to Cooper Calhoon (in “Pages from the Playbook), Elise and Scarlett (in “Between Camp and a Hard Place”), Declan, Sarah, Mickey, and Lou (in “Rightly Dividing”) on top of the show’s already established youngsters, Camilla, Matthew, Olivia, Zoe, Emily, Jay, Valerie, and Buck, I wonder if the show is starting to feel a tad bit crowded.

Perhaps it’s time for the team to “clean house” so to speak. Perhaps it’s time that they decide who has the most interesting characters/personalities and gather the team together to regularly write stories around, and develop, those characters. After all, it shouldn’t take over a year to hear from a character before the show chooses to revolve an entire episode around them. That’s not how most shows work. Characters should be appearing somewhat regularly in diverse ways -- sometimes as leads, and other times as supporting characters. At the moment, the show, it seems, is trying to juggle so many characters that the show’s most principal grownups (Whit, Connie, Eugene) are now appearing in fewer than 8-9 episodes are year. That’s a big difference from the days of old. Sure, many of you may argue that a large cast keeps the show interesting and colorful, but it is also inadvertently keeping Adventures in Odyssey from feeling sleek and focused. At the end of the day, the math is simple: the more characters there are, the less we hear from each of them.

That said, if the show ever needs to “clean house”, I don’t think that they should get rid of Buddy. Buddy's a neat character -- I enjoy his interactions with Jay, and I find him to be someone audiences can easily root for. The problem with his character, as this episode shows, is his daydreams have gotten rather old rather quickly. These daydreams really added nothing to today’s episode, and the story, frankly, came to a screeching halt whenever they occurred... which provided me with a moment to daydream, myself. And while I wouldn’t mind if they used these daydreams in new and creative ways (like they did in “Sir Buddy’s Snowy Day”), I hope the writers don’t feel required to include them in every Buddy-centric episode.

“Lifted Out of Context” ultimately feels a little too messy and peculiar for Adventures in Odyssey. That said, even though the episode doesn’t end the decade on the highest note, fans might still enjoy the timely reminder to read verses in context, a few amusing jokes here and there, and the amusing fact that Whit can add “ski instructor” to his already lengthy resume. It may not be much, but it’s something, I guess.

A Sacrificial Escape (#877) can be found in Album 67: More than Meets the Eye

Episode Description:"Emily and Matthew are trapped inside an unfinished escape room in the basement of Whit’s End. A mysterious voice insists that the two of them must play a game called “Search for Your Life” to get out." - AIO

Episode Review:“A Sacrificial Escape” ends like many past Morrie episodes have -- leaving the audience with more questions than answers. I’ve previously voiced my concern that these Morrie episodes haven’t been all that satisfying because they haven’t actually provided us with new information about Morrie, each following the same pattern; Morrie lays out a scheme, our main characters get tricked, and Morrie gets away with it. The same has happened in “A Sacrificial Escape”, leaving Whit in the same “something-weird-is-happening” place as he was all the way back in “The Secret of the Writer’s Ruse”.

But “A Sacrificial Escape” is much more satisfying than those previous Morrie episodes because it churns out such a different, engaging, and high-octane story that my enjoyment of the story completely ceases to rely on how it fits into a bigger picture. Quite brilliantly, the episode uses an emerging trend, the escape room -- already frequently being used in various television shows (in “The Middle”, for instance, where, ironically, Atticus Shaffer - voice of Morrie - is seen stuck inside an Escape Room) and successful box-office films (the appropriately titled “The Escape Room”) -- and gives it a surprisingly unique spin; not only are Emily and Matthew stuck in an escape room, but Whit and Suzu are too. An escape room inside an escape room? Honestly, I thought this was an awfully clever twist.

The parental warning -- which every fan loves to hear -- is not undeserved, here. We’ve seen the warning being unnecessarily applied to Adventures in Odyssey episodes before, promising intensity but failing to deliver. In “A Sacrificial Escape”, however, our skin begins to crawl from the very moment we hear the chilling voice through the speakers. In fact, the concept of this episode is so intense that I’m surprised that the writers had the guts to follow through with it.

Think about how crazy this premise is for a second. Morrie -- as well as the group of adults assisting him -- choose to trap children inside a room and make them believe that they’ll run out of oxygen if they don’t solve a series of clues. This is diabolical -- downright evil -- stuff. And, on top of it all, the episode features the Jones and Parker Detective Agency, who were once known for solving mysteries about missing video games and milkball fountains, now investigating a legitimately deranged psychopath. Sniff, sniff. They grow up so fast.

Though, as frightening as the situation sounded, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t think the voice actors were always selling their predicament. Given the severity of this dark situation, did anyone else think that Whit didn’t sound angry or worried enough? And given how oxygen was being kept from them, does anyone else think that Emily and Matthew seemed about as bothered about their predicament as stepping into a puddle of water? (Also, did anyone else find it unrealistic that Emily’s dad would choose to wait in the car at the end instead of coming in immediately to talk to Mr. Whittaker?) Remember that moment when the bomb was about to go off in “Real Time”? -- how much anguish Brian Dern and Whit had when they thought they were going to die? I think this episode would have been rated even higher if our characters had, perhaps, sound a little more hopeless and scared.

“A Sacrificial Escape”, more than any other prior, seems to promise that the answers to all of our Morrie questions are right around the corner. And I still have no idea how they will wrap up all of these story threads in a satisfying way. Honestly, I don’t even have a theory. Morrie is obviously technically savvy, but it seems unrealistic that he was able to pull all of this off without an adult orchestrating things behind the scenes -- which begs the question: what sort of grownup would care about helping a kid torment his classmates? And how does Suzu not even suspect her “brother” being involved? And what sort of parents must they have to be oblivious to his schemes? (And why couldn’t Whit and Suzu try to get help through the basement’s secret tunnel that still existed as recently as “Home Again 1-2”?)

But regardless of how things turn out, I have a feeling that “A Sacrificial Escape” will be remembered as a highlight of this particular era of Odyssey. The episode feels fresh and original -- quite unlike anything we’ve seen on the show. And while I was once worried that the show was raising all of these questions without the means of answering them, given how competently crafted it is, “A Sacrificial Escape” now gives me the assurance that the answers - whatever they are -- are in the capable hands of very capable writers. Honestly, the next episode of this saga can’t come soon enough.

"The World of Whitonia" (#870) is available exclusively on the Adventures in Odyssey club.

Episode Description:"Renee Carter has a very special computer project in the works involving the Imagination Station — a class assignment of creating a virtual world." -AIO

Episode Review:One reason I’ve never been much of a Star Trek fan -- or much of a science fiction fan, in general -- is because their stories often feature seemingly random, sci-fi-gobbledygook endings. The ship is stuck in a gravitational pull? Wow, how are they going to get out of that one? What’s the solution, you say? Pushing the thrusters, wiggling the throttle, while simultaneously releasing the photons and recharging the deflector dishes? Wait, how does that work? You’re not going to explain that to me? I guess I’ll have to take your word for it...

“The World of Whitonia” contains one too many of these “I’ll take your word for it” moments. You’re telling me that for Renee to build Whitonia, she’ll need to keep something called the computer-link (or comp-link) under a rock within the program, and, if her creations find it, it would mean a load of trouble for them? And, later, that the only way for Renee to sneak back into the imagination Station is to use Whit’s new contraption to turn herself into a digital version of the Whitonians? And, at the end, that in order to return the Whitonians back to normal, Renee needs to “trigger [Dr. Libernis’s] biosecurity system” and “put in a feedback loop to short it”? I’m not sure if any of this makes sense, but I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.

That said, sci-fi stories will always feature techno-babble that the audience doesn’t fully understand, and, in some way, I’m sort of glad that it chose not to spend its precious 25 minute runtime overly focusing on “how” things worked. Instead, it wisely spent its time giving us an involving and immersing experience, communicating, among other things, 1) “what the space of the world the listener is inhabiting looks like (“This jungle -- It’s truly amazing. The sky is green, but the light is golden. The air is sweet. Is that vanilla and caramel..etc.” and 2) what each character’s motivations are. Because the episode doesn't get caught up trying too hard to explain the rules of this world, “The World of Whitonia” is a much more involving and easy to follow episode than the show’s other world-building episodes (I’m talking about you “Take Every Thought Captive”).

Ultimately, what makes “The World of Whitonia” so wonderful -- and quite ingenious -- is in its retelling of the Garden of Eden story from Genesis Chapter 3. This isn’t the first time that Adventures in Odyssey has drawn strong parallels to that biblical story; “A Bite of Applesauce” also featured Connie and Eugene representing Adam and Eve, with Whit’s Applesauce program the metaphorical “fruit” they were not supposed to touch. To most listeners, “The World of Whitonia” probably felt, to quote Whit, “different, yet somehow familiar”.

While similarities between both episodes are striking, a closer glance would reveal that they use the Genesis story to communicate different points. “A Bite of Applesauce” uses the story of creation to teach about a modern day lesson in rule breaking -- that Connie and Eugene shouldn’t have touched Applesauce because Whit commanded them not to. “The World of Whitonia”, in contrast, is much more concerned with using the Genesis story as a means of explaining both God’s sovereignty and Christ’s sacrificial death -- that God alone can redeem creation, and that it is only through His son’s sacrificial action on the cross that He can rescue us from our fallen state.

Once I spotted these biblical allusions, I began to appreciate the reasoning behind those aforementioned “confusing” sci-fi moments. The story needed Renee to take on the form of the Whitonians when she re-entered the Imagination Station to illustrate how Christ took on the form of man when he came to earth in order to speak with us. Likewise, Renee needed to sacrifice her own safety for her creation just as Christ died on the cross for his . From Renee’s statement, “I am Renee”, to her deep desire to give her Whitonians free-will and, later, to bring about a new earth after “Satan” enters, “The World of Whitonia” is jam-packed full of biblical allusions.

A review of “The World of Whitonia” would not be complete without addressing a few of its musical choices. Despite doing a great job every episode, John Campbell’s work rarely becomes the highlight of an episode, and he must, at last, be acknowledged here. As an episode about a newly created earth, it's interesting that the score appears more suited to a dystopian setting. In fact, I was reminded of a passage from “The Magician’s Nephew”:

“Far overhead from beyond the veil of blue sky which hid them the stars sang again; a pure, cold, difficult music. Then there came a swift flash like fire (but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the children's bodies, and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: "Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”

The music during the creation of Narnia is described as “pure, cold, difficult”. I would describe John Campbell’s score in “The World of Whitonia” the same way. It’s a score that, like that description, feels altogether paradoxical; both magical and awe-inspiring, yet eerie and uncomfortable also, mimicking, in some ways, the paradoxical realities of the creation story, itself (how could God create something “perfect” that also has the potential to sin?)

We are left with so many questions by the time the episode ends. Shall we hear from Astan Liebernis again? And is there more to him than his “I want the Imagination Station” motivation that is all-to-reminiscent of Dr. Blackgaard? Will these two sagas share further similarities, or will this particular story take on a distinct life of its own? At this point, it’s hard to predict. But, in presenting the Genesis story in such a fresh and creative way, “The World of Whitonia” solidifies its entry as yet another strong episode in a surprisingly strong year.

"Nightmares by Constance" (#878) is part of album 67: More than Meets the Eye

Episode Description:"Two days before a Dreams By Constance wedding, the grandmother of the bride approaches Connie with a proposal. She'll pay her double if she breaks up the ceremony." -AIO

Episode Review:Probably the best decision made during the writing of “Nightmares by Constance” was to not include the word “mystery” in the title. I’m serious. With episodes like “Game For a Mystery”, “Sounds Like a Mystery”, or “The Mystery of the Clocktower”, the audience knows right away to put on their deerstalker caps and to analyze every bit of dialogue and to suspect everyone from the very beginning. “Nightmares by Constance”, on the other hand, wisely doesn’t let on that it’s an Agatha Christie-like mystery until quite late in the story, hoping, it appears, to disarm the audience and to keep them unaware of what questions they should be asking.

For the majority of the episode, I thought I was listening to a straightforward AIO wedding comedy. After all, the episode begins with a rather comical inciting incident (the bride’s grandmother offers to pay Connie double if she breaks up the wedding) similar to the absurdity found in those wedding-themed episodes like “A Very Bassett Wedding” and “For Better or For Worse”. As the episode switches focus from Connie onto Jason and Jillian, it drives home this impression even more. Given its lightheartedness, never am I trying to actively guess the culprit, or expecting the episode to pull out a twist, as I would with any other mystery.

Only much later does the story begin to prompt the audience to ask questions, as our characters discover more and more incriminating evidence against, and eventually arrest, Caleb, the groom. Around the halfway mark, I assumed that “Nightmares by Constance” was perhaps an “inverted detective story”, where the audience knows who the “bad-guy” is from the start, but doesn’t know the answers to other questions such as “how” or “why”, as seen in mysteries such as George Simenon's Maigret sets a trap or Father Gilbert’s Secrets. I thought the 2nd part of the story was going to focus primarily on trying to ascertain the groom’s confession or, perhaps, trying to persuade the bride of her fiance’s guilt.

It isn’t until our character’s suspicions fall onto the groom’s mother, that I finally realized that the episode was an actual traditional “whodunit” -- where the audience wasn’t supposed to know who the main “culprit” is. The problem, however, is that as soon as Jason starts to suspect the groom's mother, I immediately stopped trying to suspect anyone else in the story -- my mind instantly recalled her one suspiciously purposeless scene in the first half, and I became moderately satisfied with this conclusion, and assumed the episode was now speeding towards a denouement. With my eye now focused on this particular misdirection, the episode was able to fool me with its own big surprise.

Ingeniously, every aspect of this episode was constructed in a way that that dictates what the audience should think when, throwing out red-herrings to feast on at just the right moments. And like all good mysteries, if you go back and listen to it again, you realize that the clues were staring you right in the face; the lady’s vintage suitcase Jillian spots in the video, the fact that the groom Caleb had a clean background check..etc. If you have read Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes novels, you know to keep a lookout for these clues at the beginning, but with “Nightmares by Constance”, the genre is as much of a mystery as the mystery itself.

A list of the most memorable moments in this episode would naturally include the scene in which Jason and Jillian go undercover as a married couple to find out more about the groom (which, as I write this, I realize is quite similar to the Connie/Eugene undercover pairing in “A Very Bassett Wedding”). The lines about the “honeybun” and the “muffintop” had me laughing out loud. And while Jason and Jillian worked solidly as a “comedic duo”, I’m not exactly sure the show has yet convinced me that they would make a solid “marriage duo”. Although Jillian is certainly dynamic and bursting with personality and quirk, I suppose I would expect someone like Jason to eventually marry someone, euh, a little smarter.

It’s worth noting that the ending, for some, will require a significant amount of suspension of disbelief. Admittedly, it’s a little difficult to believe that a seemingly sweet septuagenarian-plus would orchestrate a - rather diabolical - scheme that involved framing her granddaughter’s fiancé for thievery and drugging people (yikes) just so that he wouldn’t end up marrying her granddaughter because of something horrible the groom’s mother did, or that she managed to also recruit two people, Mrs. McClaren and Uncle George, into this far fetched scheme. It’s also really hard to believe Claire’s reaction, who, upon learning the information, immediately barades her grandmother instead of taking a moment to consider the ramifications of such a revelation on her future/marriage. Most people, I think, would have at least postponed the wedding or chosen not to marry at all. And because the final ten minutes lean a little bit too into soap-opera territory, the ending isn’t quite as emotionally powerful as it otherwise might have been. But, really, that’s just a nitpick.

To be perfectly honest, Adventures in Odyssey hasn’t always had the most consistent track record when it comes to mysteries. They range from amazing (“The Mysterious Stranger”) to OK (“The Key Suspect”) to subpar (“Game For a Mystery”). So where does “Nightmares by Constance” rank? In my view: quite high. Look, nothing will exceed my personal favorites like “The Perfect Witness” or “The Case of the Secret Room” which thrive on their originality, mood, and noire-elements; however, as a pure “whodonit”, I think “Nightmares by Constance” might be one of Adventures in Odyssey’s most cleverly plotted mysteries yet.